Bangladesh raised objections to the discharging of untreated sewage and contaminated water from Agartala during a meeting of deputy commissioners of the two bordering districts on Thursday.
The Bangladesh side also expressed concern over the high incidence of smuggling of contraband cough syrup Phensidyle from Tripura to Bangladesh and requested both to the Tripura state government and the central government to take immediate action.
The meeting between Brahmanbaria Deputy Commissioner Noor Mohammed Majumder and West Tripura District Magistrate Kiran Gitte was held in Agartala after a long hiatus of nine years, the Times of India reported.
Noor Mohammed objected to Agartala the unabated discharge through the Kathakhal and Kalipinya rivulets, which served as waterways before the independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
Both the rivulets and River Howrah drain out total waste as Agartala has not yet developed a Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) for its 500,000 population, neither has it developed a flowing water contamination control mechanism in accordance with the International Water Discharging Protocol.
Gitte, however, said an STP was coming up in the northern part of the city to cater to about 1,200 households. The Agartala Municipal Council is also setting up an STP for the central zone to stop the flow of untreated sewage into Bangladesh.
“We have given our city development plans, including sewage treatment plant and river water management plan, to the delegation from Bangladesh and sought time to resolve it,” Gitte told the media at a joint press conference.
According to the Tripura Pollution Control Board (TPCB), more than a 100 families are still discharging wastes into River Howrah, which flows into Bangladesh.
Mihir Deb, the TPCB chairman, said: “Earlier, we identified about 1,200 households along riverbanks who were directly discharging human waste into the river. The problem has been solved after the municipal council set up toilets. But even then Howrah’s pollution level is high.”
Gitte assured his counterpart that the West Tripura administration would take action either to completely stop the flow of water or treat the water that will enter Bangladesh.
He said they would do a technical survey in this regard.
The meeting decided that as many as 373 border pillars which were damaged or missing, would be replaced or repaired.
The identification of graveyards of Bangladeshi freedom fighters in Tripura was also discussed.
